Newman v. Winlock
Newman v. Winlock
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion op the court;
Billingsly Newman died intestate and childless, leaving a widow and his father him surviving. At the March term, 1862, of the Barren county court, administration on his estate was granted to W. M. Winlock, who had .appraised and set apart to the widow the property exempted from distribution, for the benefit of the families of decedents, by the several statutes on the subject. The property thus set apart was valued at three hundred and thirty-six dollars and twenty cents; and this action was brought by John Newman, the father of decedent, against the widow and administrator, claiming the one half of said sum as the heir.of his son; and the court below having decided against him, he has appealed.
The 5th subdivision of section 11, chapter 30, 1st volume Revised Statutes, page 423, provides, that “ if an intestate leaves a widow, the following property shall be set apart by the appraisers of the estate, and vest in such widow, for the use and benefit of herself and the infant children of the intestate, if any, residing in the family;” , and then, afterv naming the articles, it further provides: “ But if there be no such infant children residing with the widow, and there are adult or infant children not residing with her, the provision contained in this section for the widow, or the value of such portion thereof as she receives, shall be charged to her in the distribution.” The plain meaning and sense of which is, according to any grammatical or rational rule's of construction, that the title of the property therein named and set apart vests in the widow; but she is to hold it for the use and benefit of herself and the infant children of the intestate, if there be any residing with her; and, in that event, she is not to be charged with the value of said
The subsequent statutes on the subject, except the act approved February 7, 1865, only added to the list of exempted property, without changing the mode of distribution ; and the one above named must be regarded as declaratory of the legislative understanding of the previous acts.
Wherefore, as the judgment of the court below conforms to these views, the same is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.